Tale of the Grey Lady
by Lost-Ink
Summary: Post season two Kate, Jack and Sawyer must escape the Others clutches, and Kate is haunted by the ghosts of her past. Triangle fic, contains both Jate and Skate. Also contains Kate flashbacks
1. Prologue

_Title:_ Tale of the Grey Lady  
_Rating:_PG-13  
_Pairing:_ Skate and Jate. No preference to either ship – this is completely playing the triangle, in a positive way (I hope) and should be something that both sets of shippers can enjoy.  
_Summary:_ AU(At least I assume it will be!) Starts post LTDA. Our heroes try to free themselves from the Others, as Kate relives past experiences.  
_Warnings:_ Light cursing, scenes of a sexual nature, though they will be for the purpose of plot/character and won't be gratuitous in any way. And also flashbacks – not sure if I should warn about that.  
_Status of fic:_ WIP – I hope to spend the summer writing this, maybe longer.

_Author's Notes/Disclaimer:_ I don't own anything.

**Tale of the Grey Lady – Prologue.**

Kate didn't know how long it had been since they had put the hood over her head. She didn't know how long after that they had knocked her out. Once the darkness came, time ceased to exist. It was still dark in her current location, though she was no longer bound by a hood, a gag or restraints. The silver sliver of moonlight shining through a small window high above her caused Kate to conclude that a number of hours must have passed since she fell into unconsciousness. It was daylight when she last saw anything, when Henry (she couldn't think of him as anything but Henry) had told Hurley that she was being taken home with them. This place, this cell, must be somewhere in their 'home'. _Cosy_. It was one of Kate's strengths that she could keep the sarcastic remarks coming in times of danger. Sawyer would have laughed if he could have heard her.

This thought seemed to open a door in her memory because all of a sudden she was hit with fear. She wasn't the only one who had been taken by the Others. Sawyer and Jack were there too. She remembered being hoisted to her feet and meeting Jack's eyes, holding them until the very last second. She had blinked, hard, trying to return his 'it'll be okay' look, but also trying to convey more. _I'll be okay. You better be okay. I'm going to get us out of this_. Now, as she recalled the moment, she was sure he would have read her right. But what about Sawyer? Who told _him_ it'd be okay? He was probably somewhere within this very building, having given up on any plan, on himself, letting the self-loathing take control.

She needed to get to them, both of them. If the three of them could somehow communicate she knew they'd be free, fast. That was just the way it worked. The bickered and squabbled, but in the end, if they each bought their separate strengths to the table then they could get things done.

It was only then that it truly occurred to Kate exactly where she was. A small, square room. Concrete walls, concrete floor, one tiny barred window ten feet in the air and a door that looked as though it belonged on the Death Star. She wouldn't be getting out anytime soon.

The more she thought on it, the more the room seemed to shrink. Kate backed into a corner, afraid. She was a criminal, a fugitive. But only twice before in her life had she been locked up. And back then she had nothing to lose.

A bright light shone into the room as someone peered into her cell. A pair of emotionless eyes. Kate tried not to look into them.

'Hello Kate, I think it's time you and I have a talk.'


	2. Chapter One

**Tale of the Grey Lady – Chapter One**

_The second time Kate had been locked up was two years ago. She was on the run, alone and scared. Sometimes she went days on end without speaking to anyone, and when she did converse with people it was only the woman behind the desk at the motel or some guy at the gas station. That night was different. She needed some kind of social contact. She needed to connect with someone._

_She was in some seedy small town bar and a stranger offered to buy her a drink. He was handsome, in an ordinary kind of way, and she had figured, what could be the harm? But then one drink turned to two, two became five and before she realised it they were entangled in the back of his car. Still, her conscience didn't interrupt her activities, and if it had she would have rationalised that she deserved some pleasure every once in a while. What was the worst that could happen?_

_And then they were back at her hotel, unconcerned with any kind of clarity – dawn would bring that. Kate allowed herself to be in the moment. She didn't look over her shoulder for phantoms from her past. She didn't plan her next disguise or story. She simply laid back and felt._

_It was mid-morning when she was awoken. She was naked, with only the thin off-white coloured sheets clinging across her middle, preserving her modesty. The door had been flung open and standing before her was the man from last night. But he was different somehow. It hit her with the force of a lightning bolt – he was wearing a police uniform._

_'Get dressed,' he said, and his voice had changed too. Whilst last night it had been soft, uttering words she didn't take the time to comprehend, now it was harsh and cold. Unfeeling._

_'What's going on?' Kate asked, though she already knew the answer._

_'You're Kate Austen – you're wanted for murder. I'm taking you to the station.'_

_There was nothing she could do. She had let herself stop running for an evening, and she had been caught. She dressed, let the officer take her to the car and stared out of the window, thinking whilst not even registering her own thoughts. She was numb to everything._

_It was a small town jail. She would be held here until those whose job it was to chase her showed up to collect her. They put her in a cell with a prostitute who eyed her curiously. Kate decided to keep herself to herself. Perhaps form a plan._

_She was afraid, but consoled herself with the fact that this was, at least, better than the first time she had been locked up.

* * *

_

The door to her cell opened, and there was the man who had worn the fake beard – Tom, one of them had called him – smiling at her. His eyes remained emotionless.

'Get up, Kate.' She did not do as he asked, merely sat there, staring at him defiantly. 'Look, we can talk here if you want. Or we can talk someplace else, at least you'll get out of this cell.'

'Fine,' Kate said, and she stood up. Before she could take anything else in a hood went over her head, she struggled a little and heard Tom laughing.

'Think we're going to let you see what's outside these walls and the room we're taking you to, Kate? You've been a criminal long enough to know how these things work. Don't want any escape attempts on our hands now, do we?'

She stopped struggling, her common sense taking over. If she fought all the way to wherever they were taking her then she wouldn't be able to make sense of her surroundings. She needed to just listen, try to figure out what they might be passing, and log the route in her head.

Left out of the door. Along a corridor. Right. Down some stairs. Left again. Through a door, and then the hood was removed. The information she had gained didn't seem to make sense now, but Kate committed it to memory anyway, knowing that there was a chance it would one day become invaluable.

The room she was now in had a window, but it was no ordinary window. She could not see the lush green grass of the islands valleys, or the mysterious jungle, but the deep blue of water, and schools of fish swimming by. So either they had some kind of underground tank, or the building was on the coast.

'You like the fish, huh Kate?' Tom asked, and he slid a chair back from underneath the table situated in the centre of the room. He made a gesture for her to take the seat, and she did so, but she did not respond to his question. 'We generally use this room to observation, rather than interrogation.'

He took a seat opposite her, and met her eyes as though expecting a question.

'What do you need to interrogate me about?' She asked, her tone challenging.

'You wanna tell me about your horse?' He asked, calmly, and Kate's eyes widened with shock.

'How do you know about that?'

'You've seen him twice now. That right?' He dodged her question and yet looked as though he expected his to be answered.

'Where are Jack and Sawyer?'

'You answer my questions Kate, and I might start thinking about answering yours.'

'Where are Jack and Sawyer?' She repeated, but he merely stared at her, a slight smile playing across his lips. She sighed, defeated; she would have to play give and take. 'I've seen the horse three times.'

'Three times, huh? And how else has it helped you?'

'Where are Jack and Sawyer?'

'They're in the building.'

'Are they okay?'

'Tell me about the horse Kate, and I'll tell you about your friends.'

She took a deep breath, calming herself a little.

'What do you mean, how has it helped me?'

'When you saw it here, on the island, it helped you to come to terms with your crime, and then it helped you to accept your feelings for Sawyer, didn't it?'

She chose not to answer this question, unsure of the implications of any information she might give him. He chuckled as she lowered her gaze.

'I'll take that as a yes.' She did not look up, just sat there, uncharacteristically still. 'And the first time you saw him, he helped you to escape.'

'Yes,' Kate conceded, and Tom nodded.

'So first he helped you physically, then he helped you emotionally. So what happened the second time, Kate?'

'I don't want to talk about it.'

'It's okay. I can wait for that information. We'll have plenty of time to talk it over during your stay with us.'

'You know people will come for us.' She said, looking up at him, her need to challenge him, to fight, resurfacing.

'I know. And when they get here, we'll either take them or kill them. Personally,' he leaned forward, lowering his voice into a conspiratorial whisper, 'I'm hoping Sun will be with them. Plenty we could use her for.'

Kate took her anger at the mention of her close friend along with the opportunity presented and set off a two-pronged attack, elbowing him in the face whilst also kicking him in the groin under the table. She was out of the door before he could possibly have had the chance to realise what was happening and immediately faced with the young girl who had handled Kate when they were captured. They stared at each other for a moment, the girl with her gun pointed squarely at Kate, and something stared in Kate's memory.

_'I remember, a girl. A girl with blue eyes.' A pause. Kate stood silently as the two women connected. 'She helped me, she saved me. Just like you did. She wasn't like the others…she was good.'_

'Alex?' Kate questioned, pieces of a puzzle coming together all of a sudden. The girl facing her lowered her gun and Kate continued. 'You helped Claire – please, help me too.'

'Then Claire's okay?' The girl asked, Kate nodded.

'I'll tell you everything, Alex, but first we have to get away from your friend in there.'

She seemed to consider this for a brief moment.

'Okay, follow me.'

The two of them set off down the corridor, in the opposite direction to that which Kate had come from. Whatever was about to happen, it had to be better than being locked up again.


	3. Chapter Two

**Tale of the Grey Lady – Chapter Two**

_'You all everybody, you all everybody, acting like…okay. I have no idea what the rest of the words to that song are.'_

_'I thought you were Driveshaft's biggest fan?'_

_'Okay, maybe not their _biggest _fan. But I certainly think the bass player is pretty hot.'_

_Being with Beth made Kate feel like she was fifteen again. Sitting here, in Beth's very pink bedroom, listening to awful music and talking about celebrities somehow made Kate forget everything that had happened. It was almost as though she _was _fifteen again, when hanging out with Beth like this had made her home life seem to slip away._

_'I don't know,' Kate said as she opened a bottle of deep red nail polish. 'I think I prefer the lead singer, the bass player kind of reminds me of one of those little things with hairy feet out of The Lord of the Rings.'_

_Beth laughed appreciatively and brushed back her crimson hair. 'I have no idea what you're talking about, Katie. Just goes to show that people don't change, I guess!' She giggled a little, and then proceeded to warble along with a Driveshaft ballad, not noticing that Kate had quietened considerably. Kate knew she hadn't changed. Did she even want to change? It wasn't really a question that was worth answering right then, because she didn't have a choice. She had to just keep on running._

_'Beth…will you give me a ride to the station in the morning?'_

_Beth looked up, and her green eyes seemed big and childlike. In that moment, Kate was reminded of the first time she had told Beth about Wayne, about the things he did. She was reminded of when she told Beth about what she had done to Wayne. All in all, she was reminded of all those times Beth had sat and listened, with a pity and sadness in her eyes that she never let Kate hear in her voice._

_'Sure,' she replied, nodding and averting her gaze a little. 'Do you know where you're going to go?'_

_'I guess I'll decide when I get there.'_

_They continued painting their nails in silence, the vocals of Liam Pace filling the room and somehow making it feel like an unobtainable place for Kate. She couldn't escape like she once did. She wouldn't come back to Iowa again._

_'Tom would never hear anything bad about you, you know,' Beth said, after a moment, and Kate looked up, questioningly. 'After you first took off the whole town was buzzing with stories about you, things you'd done before that should have given us all a clue that you were a bad apple. Wondering why you'd done it. Most assumed it was because of Diane, because she had often been seen with bruises or bandages, and then, after Wayne was gone, so were they. Anyway. There was a lot of people that said a lot of bad things. I was a coward, Katie; I let them say it. Sometimes I even agreed with them. But Tom stood up and defended you, always. Even after he married Rachel and he'd moved on. Course by that time most knew not to speak against you in front of him.'_

_Kate concentrated on painting her nails, refusing to look Beth in the eye. She couldn't break down, not now._

_'Are you going to the funeral?'_

_'Of course I am, Katie. I have to say goodbye to him…he was – well, he was Tom, wasn't he?'_

_'Will you tell him goodbye from me?' Kate asked, and she looked up to meet her friends eyes at last. 'Will you tell him that I'm sorry?'_

_'I will,' she nodded. They looked at one another for a moment, remembering everything that they had shared, knowing they could never go back. Knowing that they would probably never see one another again._

_Beth pulled Kate towards her, wrapped her arms around her, and held her tightly._

_'I just can't believe that now I've lost both of you.'_

Alex checked around a corner and motioned for Kate to follow her. She led her inside a dark closet. She shut the door lightly, and stood with her ear pressed to it, listening.

'Do you know where Jack and Sawyer are?' Kate asked, still unsure if she completely trusted the young girl. Alex pressed a finger to her lips and nodded. Kate lowered her voice to an impatient whisper and said, 'We need to get to them, before people come looking for us.'

'Trust me, it's better this way,' Alex assured her. 'The first place they'll look for you is with Shephard and Ford.'

Kate did a double take. Ford? She obviously meant Sawyer, and Kate questioned why she had never asked him what his real name was. Maybe back then, when she'd found out that Sawyer wasn't his name, it hadn't mattered. But now, somehow, it did. She resolved to ask him when she saw him again, that is, if the moment presented itself.

'So tell me about Claire…' Alex said quietly, her eyes intent on Kate, she seemed to be searching Kate's face for an answer before Kate even began to speak.

'She's fine. She had the baby – I delivered it for her actually.'

'Is it a girl or a boy?' Alex asked.

'A boy. She called him Aaron.'

Alex nodded, 'She thought it was a boy, since the first day you were here. Eth- someone told me.'

Kate deliberated on whether to tell Alex about Claire's quest for the medicine, about what they had found, but decided against it. Alex was trustworthy enough to get her out of here, but she might not be trustworthy enough to share such discoveries with.

'She told me that you helped her escape, even when she thought she didn't want to escape,' Kate said, and Alex looked away, her ear still pressed to the door.

'I had to help her. I knew what they were going to do. They would have killed her, just like they killed _my_ mother. I couldn't let her baby have a life like mine.'

They fell into silence. Kate felt for Alex, thinking that her mother was dead, when in fact she was very much alive, and had spent every moment since her child was taken searching for her. It probably wasn't a good idea to disclose this piece of information with Alex at the present time. Selfish as it was, Kate didn't want to explain everything to Alex, she wanted to find her friends – to get them home. Or the closest place they had to it anyway.

A moment later, and Alex was opening the door and heading off, Kate followed obediently, silently wondering just what kind of upbringing the Others had given her in order to make her act this way. She was certainly different to any teenager Kate had ever encountered during her life.

They progressed down the corridor and up three flights of stairs. Then Alex motioned for Kate to stop. She checked her watch, nodded, and disappeared off around the corner, Kate on her heels.

They came to a large door and Kate recognised it as the same kind as was on the cell she was kept in. Alex began entering a code into a keypad, and Kate voiced a question that had been plaguing her mind ever since Alex had begun leading her here.

'Why was I kept separately from the others? I mean, is it because I'm a woman and-'

'It's because they think that you're the dangerous one,' Alex cut across her, hardly even paying attention to Kate, or the shocked look on her face, but instead completing the code.

Kate barely had any time to digest the information Alex had given her, as in a swift motion the cell door swung open, and she was face to face with Jack and Sawyer at last.

'Oh my god…' she uttered, as her eyes fell upon them, it was all she could say in that instant. Alex pushed passed her, but Kate remained still, staring inside at the two most important people in her life. She was terrified.


	4. Chapter Three

**Tale of the Grey Lady – Chapter Three**

_At the age of ten Kate had already long passed her happiest moments. Her home had been broken apart only three years before. Somewhere inside of herself, she understood that she could never regain the family she once had. Later she would question this view of her life in the lead-up to her parents separating, knowing that they couldn't have been as happy as she had thought - even before she was born. That did not change the fact that the happiness had not been surpassed. Perhaps it was all merely a testament to the saying 'ignorance is bliss'._

_Despite this lingering sadness, Kate found solace in her two ever-present companions, Tom and Beth. Presently, the trio were enjoying the Iowan summer, playing in Tom's backyard. Beth sat cross-legged on a bench, absent-mindedly flipping through a book and watching Kate and Tom across from her. She tended to keep to the shade, under strict orders from her mother, for her scarlet hair and pale complexion made her particularly prone to sunburn. She did not mind this though; she was never the most active of the group._

_Kate and Tom were racing. Side by side on swings, Kate pulling hard on the hopes, swinging about twice as high as Tom could ever wish to achieve. She was determined to beat him, to be able to tell everyone she had beaten a boy – yet again._

_'I dare you to jump off!' Beth called to them from the bench. Kate grinned._

_'What do you say?' She asked Tom, swinging by him._

_'No way, Katie!' He called to her. 'No way! My mom would kill me is she saw.'_

_'Your mom is fixing dinner. So she won't see. Come on, Tom!' Kate rationalised, and Tom shook his head. 'Chicken!' She shouted, and leapt forward off the swing, landing flat on the ground._

_Beth jumped to her feet, worried, until she realised that Kate was shaking with laughter._

_'That wasn't funny, Katie!' Tom called down to her. Kate rolled over, lying on the grass, still laughing._

_'So are you going to jump or what?'_

_'Of course I'm not going to jump!'_

_'Oh come on, Tom, you're not nearly as high up as I was, and I'm fine!'_

_'I'm not jumping!'_

_'Stop being such a baby!'_

_And then he did it. Clearly sick of Kate's taunting of him, he leapt from his seat towards the grass. But whilst Kate had obviously played this game before, and controlled her landing, Tom clearly had not. He fell awkwardly on his side, trying to catch himself on one arm._

_Ever since, Kate could not shake the vivid sound from her memory, as Tom's arm snapped beneath him._

Her eyes moved between the two of them, undecided on who to be more scared for. Sawyer was leaned in the corner of the cell, barely awake, his eyes periodically rolling into the back of his head as he slipped in and out of consciousness. Jack, meanwhile, was slumped on the floor completely out.

As Kate stood frozen in the doorway, Alex moved between the two men, checking their pulses and examining their pupils. She was muttering under her breath, but the only thing that Kate caught was the phrase 'They've reacted badly'. After a moment she turned to Kate.

'I need you to carry on down the hall. The third door to your left is a kitchen. Get some water, bring it back, and give it to Ford.'

'What about-'

'I'll take care of Shephard,' Alex assured her. 'Just go – we don't have much time.'

Doing as she was told, Kate collected the water, all the time cataloguing in her head everything she saw, just in case she needed the information. She returned, and knelt next to Sawyer. She dipped her fingers into the water and splashed a little on his face, he stirred a little, enough for her to force him to drink the water. At this point he seemed to be awake, though weak.

'They didn't even want me,' he murmured, and despite the lack of noise in the room, Kate found herself needing to lean in closer to hear him. 'They weren't interested in me, or the Doc…all they cared about was you.' He reached forward and clumsily took her hand and she held it tightly.

'You're delusional, Sawyer,' she whispered, tensely. But she couldn't deny the fear that was building from the pit of her stomach at the sound of his words.

She turned around to check on Jack, and was alarmed to see Alex injecting him with something that looked _purple_.

'What are you doing?' Kate demanded. 'You're going to hurt him!'

'I'm not trying to hurt him, I'm trying to help him,' Alex replied calmly.

'How do I know that, Alex?'

The question was answered for the both of them, when Jack coughed a little, waking up. Leaving Sawyer to fend for himself, Kate moved across the room to Jack, helping him to sit up, slowly.

'Kate…' He whispered, fully opening his eyes for the first time.

'It's me, Jack, I'm here.' She said, gripping his lower arm as though she might die if she let go.

'What are you doing, Kate?' He asked her, his voice thick with concern.

'What do you mean? I'm getting the two of you and we're getting out of here,' she said, firmly, but confusion now mixing with the fear handed to her by Sawyer.

'If there's one time I think you should be running, it's now.' He told her, almost dramatically. Kate's eyes narrowed, the fear building, and the confusion now being replaced by paranoia.

'I _am_ running Jack, Alex is going to help us,' she insisted, but he shook his head, weakly.

'Then let Alex get us out. You need to go, alone. As fast as you can.'

'Doc's right, Freckles,' Sawyer called from across the small room. Kate knew that her sudden fear couldn't be unfounded if Sawyer was openly agreeing with Jack on anything. 'Just leave the both of us with Kim Possible here, and get the hell out.'

Kate almost asked him who the hell was Kim Possible, before she realised what he was actually saying to her. What they were both saying to her.

'I can't go without you. I can't leave you here,' she said, to no one in particular.

'This isn't the time to start acting like a hero, Kate,' Jack informed her, though his voice seemed to have lost the weakness now.

'You're right,' Kate nodded, and she let Jack breathe a sigh of relief, before continuing. 'So you both need to shut up, get up, and help Alex and I get out of here. Stop acting like tragic heroes, sacrificing yourselves for me. It's pointless. You don't _need_ to sacrifice yourselves.'

'I'll go and get some more weapons,' Alex broke in, and she passed Kate her own gun. 'Take this for the meantime.' She headed off, but then paused in the doorway, turning as if she had just remembered something. 'Men, huh?'

'Yeah,' Kate agreed, silently wondering just how Alex could possibly have gotten any information with which to make this statement living in a place like this.

She returned only a few moments later, taking her own gun back from Kate, and handing a similar rifle to Sawyer. She reached back, and took two pistols out, handing one each to Jack and Kate.

Kate held it, first with both hands, and then her right alone, becoming accustomed to the weight of the piece. She had always had great respect for any weapons that became her sole responsibility; they were somehow fragile, beautiful and terrible, all at once. She was suddenly brought out of these musings however, by Alex's hurried voice.

'I hope you two can walk,' she told Jack and Sawyer. 'Because we're about to receive some company.'


	5. Chapter Four

**Tale of the Grey Lady – Chapter Four**

_By the age of fourteen, Kate had learnt how to look after herself. Whether it was attempting to defend herself and her mother from Wayne, learning to survive in the wilderness with her dad, or playing with Tom and the other boys, Kate did her very best to keep up with (and better) everyone she dealt with._

_Her closest female friend was still Beth, who had yet to grow into her red hair, pale skin, and freckles. She had yet to grow particularly well socially, either, and when Kate finished classes she would often find Beth standing around the side of the building, not wanting to attract attention to herself as she waited to walk home._

_On that particular day, Kate rounded the corner to find Beth, stood with two other girls she vaguely knew from some classes – they were not the kind of girls she would ever have expected Beth to mix with. Then she got closer and could hear what they were saying._

_'Listen, you little ginger whore, you have that paper for me – plus ten bucks – or my brother will be paying you a visit.'_

_'But I have a math assignment due for tomorrow, I'll never be able to do both,' Beth was protesting, and Kate couldn't believe her ears._

_'Then I guess you'd better make a decision. And it had better be the right one.'_

_Kate walked closer to the group, and spoke up, 'What do you think you're doing?'_

_'Piss off – this hasn't got anything to do with you.'_

_'That's my friend you're bullying. So I happen to think this has absolutely everything to do with me,' Kate said, defiantly, and she absent-mindedly threw her backpack down next to her, ready for whatever these girls were about to do._

_'Seriously,' one of the girls was walking slowly towards her now, all attention to Beth quickly evaporating. 'You don't want to start this.'_

_'Don't I?' Kate asked, and without thinking, punched the girl in the face. 'I think it's _you _who shouldn't be starting anything. So back off, bitch.'_

_Kate had never been the kind of girl to swear, but thought in this instance it was appropriate. She would later decide it hadn't been such a good idea, as her opponent started to scratch at her, and pull her hair, viciously. When they finally were separated, Kate fully expected to find herself suspended. That is, until she realised it hadn't been a teacher breaking up the fight, but Tom, and a few other boys. She was lucky that she had him around for her – just as Beth was lucky to have Kate around._

No sooner did Kate, Jack, Sawyer and Alex leave the cell than Tom rounded the corner with two nameless Others, guns in hand. The four escapees exchanged glances, and Alex took a step away from them, towards the enemy.

'Run,' she said, not looking back at them. Sawyer moved to go, without asking questions, and Kate was surprised to see Jack follow.

Ignoring them, she stayed where she was, asking Alex, 'What will happen to you if we leave?'

'_Run_.'

'No,' Kate said, making the decision for all of them, she aimed her gun at the three people drawing ever closer, though they seemed to want to talk, otherwise they would surely have opened fire already.

'Kate…' Jack began, his voice giving away that he already knew the attempt he was about to make was futile. 'We have to go – Alex will be okay.'

'Where are we gonna go though, Doc?' Sawyer questioned, 'How're we getting out of this damn place without French Chick Junior?'

Jack wasn't given time to respond to this, as Tom and his henchmen were already stood in front of them. There was no running now.

'What are you doing, Alex? Are you helping the prisoners escape?' Tom asked, and Kate had the distinct impression that Sawyer was resisting the urge to say 'Well, _duh'_. Alex began her response, but all she could manage was a series of incoherent half-sentences. 'Hand over the gun, Alex,' Tom told her, calmly, quietly – creepily.

'_Don't_, Alex,' Kate said, stepping forward so that she was level with the teenager. 'He's in your head, don't let him in.'

'I don't think anything between Alex and I has anything to do with you, Kate.' Tom said, abruptly, his faux-friendly demeanour dropping slightly.

'I'm not just going to stand here, and let you _bully_ a young girl into giving you her freedom.'

'She's not giving me, anything, Kate – except her gun. This is her home.'

And suddenly, Kate knew how to turn this around and put the situation in her favour. She turned to face Alex, Tom's presence now unimportant.

'Your mother is alive, I can take you to her.'

Alex looked between the three strangers standing around her, unsure.

'It's true,' Jack agreed, 'I've spoken with her.'

'Mad as a box of frogs,' mumbled Sawyer.

For the second time that day, Alex lowered her gun and looked Kate deeply in the eyes.

'Really?'

Kate nodded, 'Yes – you were taken from her when you were a baby. She's been looking for you ever since.'

The next thing Kate registered was Tom falling to the floor, unconscious – it seemed Alex had hit him over the head with her gun. One of his henchmen moved to aim at Alex, but as he did so Sawyer immobilised him by shooting him in the leg. Kate fixed her eyes on the only Other left standing.

'You want to try anything?' She asked, her eyebrows raised.

The Other leant down and began examining his comrades, and he replied, not looking at Kate, Jack or Sawyer – only Alex.

'Just go,' he told her, as if he was tired of fighting the same battle over and over.

Without another word Alex turned and walked off down the corridor, away from the direction Tom had come from. After a moment surveying the scene before her, and preparing herself for things to come, Kate followed with Jack and Sawyer trailing obediently behind her.


End file.
